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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. B. D. STEVENS.

VENETIAN BLIND. No. 340,960. Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

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Wifnesses:

2 Sheets-Shet 2.

(No Model.)

B n STEVENS. VBNETIAN BLIND.

Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

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Witneaaaux wv PETERS. Mum-Lithographer, Washington. 0.0.

EJTNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN 1'). STEVENS, OF BURLINGTON, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO '1. S. PEGK, OF SAME PLACE.

VENETIAN BLIND.

SiPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,960, dated April 27, 1886.

Application filed January 12, 1886. Serial No. 188,309. (No model.)

T at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN D. STEVENS, of Burlington, in the county of Chittenden and State of Vermont, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Venetian Blinds, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to furnish a Venetian blind in which a section. or part is capable of use and operation entirely independent of the remaining portion, so that one part of a window may be screened or protected to any desired degree, while the remaining portion of the window is left free and unobstructed, or is screened to a different degree. To this end the blind is constructed in inde pendent sections, each complete in itself as to slats, supporting-tapes, raising and adjusting vices by which the sections may be readily united together to form a blind of the total size of the sections, or readily separated for independent use of the sections. A lower section and its containirig-framing are also pro vided with devices by which such section may be suspended in proper position for screening a lower part of the window independently of an upper sect-ion, which may be raised to leave an upper part of the window clear and unscreened. In thelower section or sections the raising-cords do not pass from the section, but they-one end being fastened to the bottom slat of such section-pass through the ordinary cord-apertures to the top slat over pulleys therein located, and back through the same apertures, so that pulling upon the free ends of the cords causes the slats of the section to be raised toward the top slat. Beneath the bottom slat, at each cordaperture, a pair of spring-jaws is secured, by which the cord is gripped and held when the section is closed or partially closed. These and other features of the invention will be more readily understood by reference to the drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective View of ablind embodying my invention, the sections there being shown as separated; Fig. 2, a partial View, showing means for uniting the sections; Figs. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9, details of construction, Fig. 6, a transverse section of Fig. 1. Fig. 10 represents one of the various ways in which the blind-sections can be arranged.

In this illustration of the invention the entire blind is shown as composed of two sections-an upper section, 1, and a lower section, 2each formed of the ordinary slats, 3, and main supportingtapes l, the latter being connected in pairs, in the usual way, by transversesupporting-tapes. (Notshowm) The up per section has the ordinary raising-cord, 25, divided into two branches, one for either end of the section.

Upon the under side of the lower slat of section 1 are secured spring-bolts 5, which may consist of a bolt, 11, suitably seated in guides 12, furnished with a thuinb-piece, 13, for more ready manipulation, and having a coiled spring, 14, to normally throw the bolt into a locking position. One of these is located at either end of such slat, and the two may be connected byarms 1G to a single thumb piece or lever, 15, by whose manipulation both bolts may be simultaneously operated, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5.

In the upper slat of the lower section are seatedone at either end-the pulleys 6, over which pass the raising-cords 18 of such section. Secured upon the axis 8 of each pulley is a short rod, 9, ending in an eye or hook, 10. The positions of the spring-bolts 5 and eyebolts 9 10 are such that those at each end of the blind-section shall be in the same vertical line, so that when it is desired to join the sections together it will be necessary only, referring to Fig. 1, to lower the upper section to the lower, open the spring-bolts, so that the eyebolts may enter between the outermost guides, 12, the cyebolts then springing through the eyes 10 into their normal locked position, whereby the two sections are secured together.

To sustain a lower section independently of an upper section the same description of springbolts are secured on both sides of the window frame, or of a special frame located in the window-opening at the point designed to be the upper limit of such section-say at 25, Fig. 1while to each end of the top slat of such section cyebolts 17 are attached. By

such or equivalent means a lower section may be sustained in position to screen a lower section of the window while an upper section is raised and folded to leave its section of the window clear. By equivalent means are meant such devices as may enable an upper and lower section to be readily attached together or separated, and as may enable a lower section to be supported independently of an upper section-such, for instance, as a mere hook and staple, or eyebolt and hook, 800. To prevent the flopping of such section,it is well to duplicate such devices as have last been described at its lower limit, as indicated at 26 in Fig. 1. These devices, as located at 25 and 26, also secure the entire blind, when the sections are joined together, within the frame against flopping by the action of the wind, as the blind is there stayed in the window by the attachment of the upper section at its top to the frame and by the bolt at 25 26.

In the lower section the raising cords 18 do not pass therefrom; but, as shown in Fig. 6, they are secured at one end to the lower slat, thence they pass up through the ordinary cordapertures 20 over the pulley 6, and thence back through the same aperture,ending in any suitable grasping device, 19. Any suitable means for securing the cords can be employed. One convenient means is illustrated in the drawings, in which at each cord-aperture in the lower slat are secured a pair ofjaws, 21, made of spring metal and set so as to normally close. Upon pulling upon the free end of the cords the slats of the section are raised and folded upon each other. XVhen raised to the desired height,the cord is simply inserted between the 'jaws 2l,which, gripping it, retain it and hold the slats in the position to which they have been raised.

In order to give greater leverage for turning or adjusting the slats to'any desired angle, so that the same may be accomplished by pulling upon the tapes themselves, and special cords therefor be dispensed with, an extension may be attached to the upper slat of a blind or a section. One form thereof could be a block or athickening-piece, 23, sccu red to the upper slat, as shown in Fig. 9, to which the tapes 3 are fastened; or in another form a small projecting arm, 22, Figs. 6 and 8, may be attached to the edge, or at an angle to the edge, of the top slat at the point of passage of each tape thereupon, either of these devices sufficing to give the desired increased leverage upon the tapes.

It is not essential that the eyebolts 9 and 10 should be attached to or supported by the axis of the pulleys 6, as it is evident thatsuch eyebolts may be attached to the slat by staples or any other convenient means. I have found it convenient, however, to construct them in one organization, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, where the pulley 6 is journaled in a struck-up sheet-metal frame, having flanges for its securement to the slat, in one instance,

Fig. 3, upon top of the slat, in the other, Fig. 4, upon the bottom of the slat, the axis 8 of the pulley being prolonged to afford a bearing for and sustain the eyebolts 9 10.

\Vhile in the illustration herewith given but two sections are shown, it is evident that the entire blind maybe composed of any desired number of sections-a fixed upper section and one or more independent lower sections, each constructed and sustained in like manner to section 2, hereinbefore described.

Blinds thus constructed need not be used at all times in the ordinary waythat is, extending straight across the window; but the sections may be used in various ornamental ways, as indicated in Fig. 10, wherein, one raising-cord in each section being used to draw at its side the slats together, while the other cord is unused, the sections are formed into fan shape, the full lines showing the two fan shapes as having their apexes on opposite sides, while the dotted lines in the upper half show the apexes on the same side. It is also evident that the arrangement of the raising-cords for the lower section entirely within such section, and the application to the section itself of a device for retaining such cords in a desired position, are applicable to other forms of blinds, either those formed in a single section or those formed of two or more connected sections, whether separable or not.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In a Venetian blind, the combination, with an n per blind-section, of an independent lower blind-section detachably connected to the upper section, substantially as and for 7 the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination, in a Venetian blind, of two or more independent sections, each having its own slats, sustaining-tapes, and elevating-cords, and means, substantially as described, for at will connecting or disconnecting such sections, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, in aVenetian blind, of two or more independent blind-sections, and an elevating-cord for each section located within and passing through such section only, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination, with the blind-slats and their supporting-tapes, of pulleys c011- nected to the top slat, and elevating-cords attached to the lower slat, passing thence up through the slats, around the pulleys, and back to and through the lower slat, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

5. The combination, with the blind-slats and their supporting-tapes, of pulleys connected to the top slat, elevating-cords attached to the lower slat, passing up through the slats, around the pulleys, and back to and through the lower slat, and cord-fasteners attached to and carried by the lower slat, sub

stantially as and for the purpose hereinbe- In testimony whereof I have hereunto set fore set forth. my hand this 4th day of January, A. D. 1886. 10

6. The CO111bil1lfiiO11,WiUl a frame and aVe- 1 netian blind composed of independent de BENJAMIN D. STEVENS. 5 tachably-connected sections, of means, substantially as described, for independentlysup- Witnesses:

porting said sections, substantially as and for l M. C. SEYMOUR, the purposes hereinbeforc set forth.

T. S. PEOK. 

